Maine

[mightyace]

Progress?

Last coin machine gone from Maine Turnpike

[Voyager]

What do they use now?

[mightyace]

IIRC The article said that the coin lane was being replaced with an EZ-Pass only lane.  I think there are still attended lanes, at least at the mainline plazas.  Plus, all cash tolls are now multiples of $1 since a Feb. 1 toll increase.

Plus, over 50% of the travelers use EZ-Pass.  (Since there is a 50-60% discount for EZ-Pass, I can see why.)  Only 10% were using the coin lanes.

This is just what I read as I've never been on the Maine Turnpike.  I welcome any corrections from anyone who actually has been there.

[mightyace]

Maine Turnpike puts off widening project on lower traffic forecast

[yakra]

MDOT will be raising speed limits on much of the state's interstate system, between Portland and Old Town:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Speed_limt_on_much_of_Maine_Turnpike__I-295_ro_rise_to_70_mph.html

[KEVIN_224]

Here's another story about the speed limit increase, from WCSH-TV (NBC) channel 6 of Portland:

http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/augusta-waterville/2014/05/27/speed-limits-increased/9633159/

[Pilgrimway]

MDOT will be raising speed limits on much of the state's interstate system, between Portland and Old Town:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Speed_limt_on_much_of_Maine_Turnpike__I-295_ro_rise_to_70_mph.html

That's been done.  I drove to Bangor this weekend and a lot of I95 is at 70 mph now, especially north of Portland.

[hotdogPi]

MDOT will be raising speed limits on much of the state's interstate system, between Portland and Old Town:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Speed_limt_on_much_of_Maine_Turnpike__I-295_ro_rise_to_70_mph.html

That's been done.  I drove to Bangor this weekend and a lot of I95 is at 70 mph now, especially north of Portland.

They're moving the change further south.

[SectorZ]

I was up there the first week of June, and by then everything had been bumped up 5 MPH (sans Maine Tpke and I-95 north of Old Town where it's already 75). By everything, that would be all the stuff I was on, I-295, I-395, I-95 around Bangor, and US 1 in Bath/Brunswick.

[yakra]

I believe bits of 395 were bumped by 10 MPH.
295 retained its 55 & 50 MPH zones from its southern terminus thru Portland; only the 65 MPH zones were increased.
I was a little surprised to see 70 MPH start that far south; I would have retained 65 until Exit 31 in Topsham.
The Scarborough Connector is now also posted for 60 MPH. On the first day of the new limit, I got stuck behind a bozo doing 35 in the 60 zone. Yeesh.

I believe the changeover happened May 27, *maybe* May 26.

[KEVIN_224]

http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2014/08/11/dot-turnpike-speed-limits-70-mph/13884393/

A chunk of the Maine Turnpike was raised to 70 MPH on Monday, August 11th.

(Jackie Ward in the black and green for the video...she is sweet!)

[The Nature Boy]

It'll be interesting to see if NH follows suit after evaluating the safety of this in Maine.

[Ian]

The drive up to Orono just became that much easier! 

[1995hoo]

Do I recall correctly that the Maine legislature passed a statute allowing speed limits of up to 75 on any segment of Interstate, such that it's just a case of the authorities deciding not to post anything above 70 except on the segment already posted at 75? Just curious–I haven't been to Maine in a few years and have no basis for commenting on whether or where 75 might be reasonable and I just want to refresh my own recollection on what exactly they allowed.

[KEVIN_224]

75 MPH would only work on the stretch north out of Bangor, heading up to Houlton and the New Brunswick border. The main reason for the lower speed limit north of Mile Marker 44 up to Falmouth is due to traffic through the west end of Portland and the fact that much of that section is only two lanes on each side. (Exit 44 at Mile Marker 44 is for I-295 North, which takes you through South Portland and then into downtown Portland.) When they widened the Maine Turnpike a few years ago, the northern end of the project was at Exit 44.

[1995hoo]

75 MPH would only work on the stretch north out of Bangor, heading up to Houlton and the New Brunswick border. The main reason for the lower speed limit north of Mile Marker 44 up to Falmouth is due to traffic through the west end of Portland and the fact that much of that section is only two lanes on each side. (Exit 44 at Mile Marker 44 is for I-295 North, which takes you through South Portland and then into downtown Portland.) When they widened the Maine Turnpike a few years ago, the northern end of the project was at Exit 44.

Sure, but that wasn't really my question. What I was trying to confirm is whether the legislature indeed allowed 75, regardless of whether it's posted or would work on a given segment.

I can picture Exit 44. "mtantillo" of this forum called it the Tourist Exit because it's so easy for traffic leaving the Turnpike to avoid the toll there by going to Exit 45 instead.

[vdeane]

It'll be interesting to see if NH follows suit after evaluating the safety of this in Maine.

You mean like this?  Or like this?

I can picture Exit 44. "mtantillo" of this forum called it the Tourist Exit because it's so easy for traffic leaving the Turnpike to avoid the toll there by going to Exit 45 instead.

Also the "roadgeeks who need to clinch I-295" exit.

[hotdogPi]

Also the "roadgeeks who need to clinch I-295" exit.

I think that can be done by going in the other direction.

[yakra]

Also the "roadgeeks who need to clinch I-295" exit.

I think that can be done by going in the other direction.

Correct.

[mtantillo]

Also the "roadgeeks who need to clinch I-295" exit.

I think that can be done by going in the other direction.

Or the local commuter exit. If you are a local commuter with a Maine-issued E-ZPass, your tolls are distance-based. So it is sometimes a nickel cheaper to exit at 295 than at Maine Mall. But for non-locals with any out of state E-ZPass or no E-ZPass, you are throwing your money down the drain by using that exit.

[1995hoo]

Also the "roadgeeks who need to clinch I-295" exit.

I think that can be done by going in the other direction.

As yakra said, that's correct, and when you're going southbound there's no advantage to bypassing the I-295 toll plaza at that interchange because you'd also pay if you entered via the Maine Mall route. I did precisely all this last time I was there going to and from Nova Scotia–exited at Exit 45 on the way up, entered via Exit 44 on the way home. I'm not all that big on worrying about avoiding tolls, but to me the toll when you exit via Exit 44 comes across as a middle-finger gesture to out-of-staters who can be assumed not to know how easy it is to avoid it. (The Delaware Turnpike toll feels like one too, though to me it feels less so because it takes longer to bypass it than it does to bypass the one in Maine.)

[shadyjay]

It'll be interesting to see if NH follows suit after evaluating the safety of this in Maine.

You mean like this?  Or like this?

I interpreted that message as being in reference to raising the speed limit on I-95. 

Personally, I think VT needs to jump on the "higher speed limit" bandwagon.  Personally, I think I-91 north of St J could go to 75, with most of the rest of the state being bumped up to 70 mph (60 mph through Burlington and White River Jct). 

[Alps]

75 MPH would only work on the stretch north out of Bangor, heading up to Houlton and the New Brunswick border. The main reason for the lower speed limit north of Mile Marker 44 up to Falmouth is due to traffic through the west end of Portland and the fact that much of that section is only two lanes on each side.

Traffic is not a reason to lower a speed limit. Higher frequency of interchanges, obstructed sight distance (sound walls or buildings), or more curvature (vertical or horizontal) are valid.

[Duke87]

Or the local commuter exit. If you are a local commuter with a Maine-issued E-ZPass, your tolls are distance-based. So it is sometimes a nickel cheaper to exit at 295 than at Maine Mall.

How does that work, though? How can they determine where you exited if you leave at a ramp with no toll?

[vdeane]

They have gantries going across the direction without the toll plaza.  Maine is one of those states that likes to be a jerk to out of state motorists.